Predator or dead
by ShortieCake105
Summary: For Isabella, living in the Amazon is normal. Bringing the term Wild Woman to life, she becomes the predator in a world full of predators, until of course, someone intervenes and the world Isabella once knew is turned upside down. AU Vamp/human BXE MA/M
1. Chapter 1

I looked ahead, my eyes locked on target, my muscles tensing in anticipation for the jump whilst my hands clenched around the thick branch above me, finding purchase for me to hold on. The feline was down on the floor, nursing a paw with long licks, feral sounds emitting from her throat as she contentedly observed her surroundings, unaware of my presence from where she lay, about 30 feet below me.

I let go of the branch with one hand to grab the handmade dagger from where I had lodged it near my waist and pointed it downwards. The branch rustled slightly as I moved and the feline shot her head up, alarmed and stood up, surveying the area slowly, her tail flicking in annoyance. I shifted forward slowly, getting to the edge of the branch that would keep my weight and sprung forward, my legs leading the rest of my body as I landed slightly left of the feral cat and stabbed the dagger into the back of its neck, and held it down forcefully as she struggled and growled, scratching me and drawing blood. I shoved the dagger in harder and the body in my arms went slack, either with exhaustion or blood loss, either way was fine for me as I slit its throat and drained it of blood and began to skin it.

Some may think this sick, unsanitary and barbaric, however, to me, this was my meal for the week and as I cut the meat off the body, putting it into a cloth bag I had made and slung it over my back, putting the dagger back into my waist, slotting it in so it wouldn't fall out, and kicked the carcass out of my way, I began to run east to where my little shack was.

My feet pattered on the forest floor in rhythmic patterns, whilst the rain pattered on the tops of the trees 100's of feet above in uneven patterns, only occasionally reaching the forest ground or hitting me. My feet were filthy and my _"clothing" _was covered in blood, evidence that it had not rained in a while, so there was no water to wash.

I pushed my body faster to get home as I looked around the greens, and browns of the forest, pushing my way through overgrown bushes and plants.

My name is Isabella. Just Isabella, and for me, this is normal. This is home.

And home and is in the east of the Amazon forest.


	2. Chapter 2

**(Read and tell me what you think. I'm working really hard to get to a decent amount of words,, give me a little review please!)**

Let me give you some background information on me. My name is Isabella. No Izzy, or Bella, just Isabella. I am 16 and have been living wild and free for 6 years now, since I was 9. My parents; Renee and Charlie swan lived in a small town called Forks and were happily married since I was born. We were not rich or materialistic but we were happy and together.

For a small time at least.

I remember it perfectly because it was my 9th birthday, and my parents were spoiling me with gifts and cake and I had been out with my friends earlier that day with a party my mom had organised at the local restaurant and now it was family time. It was around 10.00 at night, and I was ecstatic because my dad had bought me the best gift I could ask for; A locket with words in Latin inscribed inside, there was no picture provided because my dad had said I wouldn't need one as they would always be there for me.

I had gone to bed, sleepy and with a smile on my face as my mom and dad tucked me in and kissed my forehead before putting the nightlight on and closing the door. I was afraid of the dark.

_I was startled awake by a loud screech from my parents room and bolted up before my body could even comprehend was my mind was telling it to do and I swayed slightly, grabbing onto the wall so I wouldn't trip or fall. I grabbed the doorknob and swung the door open and with a loud bang it bounced off the wall and I ran through it, heading straight for my mom and dad's room. I barged through the door and flicked the light on, and instantly started at the slight of my father's dismembered body on the floor and my mom's lying on the bed, with a man on top of her, his mouth to her shoulder. There was cherry red blood splattered on the wall. _

_The man moaned and moved slightly and I whimpered, backing up into the wall and his head shot up, his blonde hair flying wildly and a sadistic smile creeped onto his face. He was in front of me before I could blink and stood in front of me, unmoving but surveying me, as if weighing me up. There was blood dripping down his mouth and his belt buckle was undone, his underwear showing. He lent down and I cringed back further into the wall as his breath tickled my neck. "Wait for me." Is all he whispered before kissing me on the forehead and disappearing into the night, leaving me with the dead bodies of my parents drooling blood everywhere._

Everything went wrong after that, I was put into care homes, scared out of my mind of this man who murdered my parents. I had said it was a Vampire, but of course everyone thought I was crazy and told me it must have been an animal. I eventually agreed with them to shut them up. I knew I was right though. I never got adopted and was moved continuously, until I got a message, written in blood saying _wait for me_, stuck to my small bedroom window on a piece of paper and simply gabbed my valuable objects and ran.

I ran and ran, stopping only for food and occasional rest. I had one small backpack of possessions and my locket around my neck. I eventually ran into a forest, to cover from the heavy rain and continued to walk, jog or run in that direction, eventually I found a small covered area and slept for hours, and, well I guess I never left this area.

I had never been found by Vampire or human since I had been here and I was as happy as I could be, surrounded and covered, and although I felt free, I also felt safe away from civilisation.

I had learnt how to fend for myself and hunt, eventually too hungry to be weak and not catch anything. My first hunt I only got a couple birds, which was hard enough, but I eventually learned how to hunt monkeys and my favourite the Jaguar.

I had make more coverage with old leaves and constructed myself a house, and made myself hunting and protection weaponry just in case, teaching myself techniques and how to climb trees.

I built fires for roasting the meats I killed and also made myself clothing from the hides and furs off animals.

Overall I was comfy.

The sun peaked through the thick trees and I stretched and squinted, many bird calls echoed throughout the forest in hearing range telling me the rain had let up before I even went outside. I surveyed my surroundings, looking for puddles large enough to wash my clothing and my filthy body. I stripped as I looked, not bothered about my nakedness and neither worried about being caught. I shrugged the thin homemade sleeveless shirt off my body and the skirt. I had nothing for underwear, and I was comfortable without it.

I wandered for a while and spotted a huge tree leaf filled with water, big enough for me to bathe in and to wash my clothes in as well.

I slipped into the cold water and shivered as I went underneath and scrubbed my body quickly running my hands through my thick, brown overgrown hair, ridding it of dirt and leaves. I scrubbed my clothes also before getting out of the water and hanging them on a tree nearby and re-starting the fire I had tended to the night before. I grabbed my dagger and prodded and the lighting fire to help it start faster.

I sat down and waited for the fire to light, looking down at my naked body. I wasn't perfect I knew it. Years of harsh living and fighting with animals had left many scars on my body and calluses had formed on my hands and feet where the skin had toughened up due to tree climbing and running without shoes. I sighed and rubbed my chilly hands up and down my arms, producing goosebumps.

Prodding the fire again, I grabbed the clothes, hanging them over the fire, enabling them to dry quicker and sat back down, looking up at the trees. The fire crackling was comforting and I felt more at home than ever.

I had been sitting down for a while thinking, almost so long that my clothes had almost dried, when abruptly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I twisted quickly, crouched down and backed up against the tree, hissing and faced the danger that interrupted my morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Review!)**

The birds squawked and flew away abruptly, leaving me to deal with the problem at hand alone.

I glared at the intruders; I guess my social skills had gone way downhill since I hadn't had any contact with anyone for years as I waited for an explanation as to why 7 exceptionally beautiful people, or vampires, were standing in front of me. I was still naked might I add.

I hissed at them again and held my dagger tightly, although I knew it wouldn't hurt them. They stood perfectly still, each one of them unmoving but their facial expressions were almost comical. Eyes wide and eyebrows rose. An exceptionally dressed blonde haired man came forward slightly, his hands were raised as he inched forward and I hissed again, backing further up into the tree, the rough bark was digging into my back.

"Don't come closer" I growled, my voice raspy from disuse and I had to think hard about the words before I let them out. The blonde man stopped and inched his way to the floor, his hands still up in surrender.

"I'm Carlisle," He introduced himself slowly as if I was stupid or invalid in some way. I said nothing reaching to my left to grab my now dry clothes slowly and his eyes watched my movement and his eyes widened as he quickly turned around, walking back to the other vampires and they stood still neither saying anything and I realised they were giving me the opportunity to get dressed. I stood slightly pulling the hide shirt over my head and the skirt- type thing over my legs.

They were still turned around, so I did what my survival instincts told me; I ran.

I didn't stop to comprehend which way I was going; just following the thinning bushes that showed me that either myself or animals had passed through here often. I pushed my aching legs faster, the muscles were burning in protest but I just pushed them faster, I knew I couldn't outrun them. I couldn't count how many times James had appeared out of the blue with no warning. He was quick, these vampires could be too; hell they could working for him. I moved slightly to the left when I saw a huge tree on my right, with a smaller one of my left in front of it. I used my tree climbing skills to quickly push my body off the first smaller tree and land, higher up, on the larger one, instantly climbing higher to get away from the floor.

I wanted to get into the sunlight that was beaming through the treetops. I jumped from branch to branch, not bothering to test their thickness or ability to hold me before hanging from them and twisting upwards.

I guess I should have tested the branches, but in my haste to climb higher, I was scared and didn't. I grabbed on to a higher one quickly, nearly 100 feet from the ground and I swear my heart stopped when I heard an audibly loud crack and it snapped clean off and my feet slipped off the bark they were holding onto in surprise, and I fell back.

I tried to hold on again but all I could do was hold on with my fingers and tips of my toes to the tree log as I scratched my way to the ground, and I hoped it would slow me down.

I landed on my ass on the ground with an _oomft _emitting from my throat and my hands landed above my head and I felt exposed. Instantly there were seven pairs of gold eyes looking down on me. _Gold?_ I scrambled to sit up.

"So what are Vampires doing in the middle of the Amazon forest?" I asked, the question was supposed to be intended for any of the 7 vampires.

"What is a human doing in the middle of the Amazon forest?" A big burly, brown haired man reiterated with a grin on his face and I fought a smile. A kind looking woman came forward slightly and bent down to my height, and I inched back a little, only to be backed into a pair or long legs, clothed in thick material. I looked up into the amazing gold eyes, the man had bronze coloured hair and a frown upon his forehead, his lips in a thin, straight line. Next to him stood a small girl with black hair that spiked more than mine in different directions, she had a huge grin on her face and I shuddered slightly as I turned to look at the tall, blonde man standing next to her holding her hand and holding her protectively to her side. The large burly man stood next to him with a smile on his face and a blonde woman, looking immensely beautiful, even in comparison to the others stood tucked into his side, a frown on her face, and then the blonde haired man from earlier stood behind this woman that was in front of me.

I looked at the kind smile on her face, and she instantly reminded me of my own mother, and I instantly fought not to think of her, instead grasping the offered hand of the woman and helping her hoist me to my feet.

"I'm Esme," She introduced herself and this time I answered. "Isabella, my name is Isabella." I replied, still holding onto her hand. She did not scare me and if I was going to die now, I would be brave. Her smile intensified and introduced the rest of the by pointing to each of them.

She pointed to the small haired girl, "That's Alice," She told me and the small girl waved slightly, the smile still on her face, "That's Jasper, Alice's mate," She said as she pointed to the tall blonde man standing close to Alice. "That's Emmett and Rosalie," She told me pointing the large man and the beautiful blonde and the man named Emmett smiled and waved. "They are mates, and then Carlisle is my mate," She pointed to the blonde man who had first introduced himself to me and he gave me a small smile, but looked calculating at me. I looked at Esme again and looking questioningly at the last man she had yet to introduce. She cleared her throat "That is Edward," She proudly announced his name and I looked at him again and he smiled slightly, showing me his gleaming teeth and I simply raised my eyebrows at his blatant attempt to scare me. "He is not mated" she exclaimed.

I nodded.

"So what are you doing here?" The blonde haired man asked again, stepping forward to stand by Esme.

"This is my home" I replied, looking at him in the eye. "You live here?" He replied, looking astounded. Did I stutter or something, or was I speaking a different language. "I thought vampires were supposed to be smart, but you are all extremely slow," I told them. "Why else would I be here?"

Emmett laughed loudly, his laugh startling me and I hissed automatically. I raised my eyebrows in question and he just shook his head, still chuckling and hid his head in the Rosalie's hair.

"So why are you here then?" I asked Esme. "Hunting," she replied and I stepped back, her eyes widened at her mistake and her hands shot up at vampire speed as she tried to correct her. I reprimanded myself for showing fear and tried to calm myself. "No, no," the man named Carlisle said. "We hunt animals, "he told me quickly, putting a hand on a stuttering Esme to calm her down.

I audibly sighed and relaxed and my stomach grumbled loudly. My hand went to my stomach to calm it and I realised I was hungry. I began to walk again, not in any particular. I turned around to face the family, grabbing my dagger. I smiled at them "I hunt animals also," I told them as I ran in the direction of a loud jaguar's cries.

I was sure they were following me as I followed the noises to where a black, beautiful Jaguar lay, injured on the floor of the forest. Its mate lay beside it, and I knew it was the one who was crying. It shot up when it saw me and growled protectively. It worried for its mates' life but I was not interested in an injured jaguar. It was dying for a reason, possibly from a poisonous animal and I could not eat poisoned meat.

I poised the dagger and the Jaguar growled in warning as I took a step forward. It ran at me and I sidestepped at the last second, grabbing the fur on the back of its neck, making it slightly immobile, I slid the knife through the throat, effectively slitting it and the Jaguar slumped to the ground, the blood flowing from the wound quickly. I left it to bleed and went over to the injured Jaguar who was, probably painfully dying and stabbed it quickly in the heard, killing it instantly and ridding it of lonely pain.

I slid the dagger in my waist band and put my meal over my shoulder, drenching myself in blood and made my way back the way I had come. I hoped there was still water from the rain because I was disgustingly dirty.

When I got back to my home, I dropped the dead animal on the floor and began a fire, skinning it, setting it slightly above the fire to roast and dove into the puddle of water, which was now dirty, and realised the family of vampires had not followed me. I also washed my blood covered dagger.

I shrugged my shoulders at that thought and continued wiping away the blood out of my hair and clothing. I got out, soaking wet and turned the meat over, wincing at the heat of the fire and wringed my hair out whilst waiting for it too cook.

My stomach felt painfully empty as I waited for the meat to cook.

Eventually, slightly browned, I took it from the fire and stabbed it with my newly cleaned dagger and began to use my teeth to rip into the tough meat.

The family of vampires trailed into my small camp site and sat in different places. Their clothes were slightly rumpled and their eyes were more golden.

I acknowledged them with a small smile and stopped eating to chew the meat.

I held out the meat as I swallowed. "Home made kebab" was all I said as I finished it off.

Carlisle had his hands folded and smiled at my joke. I still had a little humour apparently. "So how long have you been out here," He asked, trying to be nonchalant and failing.

"About 6 years," I replied and his eyes widened. "Why?" He asked. I shrugged. "No-where to go," I replied simply.

Alice jumped up and squealed loudly. I looked at her in alarm and stood up. "You should come live with us!" She told me, still jumping up and down. I began to shake my head but Edward shot up. "What?" He hissed. "No, Alice, no, she cannot stay with us," Rosalie joined in too. "I agree, Edward is right, she is human!" Their voices were hostile and I felt rejection, then calm wash through me.

Alice glared at them and looked pleadingly at Carlisle. Did I not get a choice in this? Carlisle sighed and began to speak as if I was not there. "Alice is right, Edward, Rosalie. Isabella cannot stay here by herself, it is inhuman and unsanitary for a human to live like this," he gestured around at my home.

"What?" I hissed and they turned to look at me. "No! No I am not leaving here! You can't make me," I yelled, being a little childish but not caring. Carlisle shook his head. "Bella- we can't-"He started but I stopped him.

"It's ISA- Bella. Not Bella." I growled and stomped towards my covered housing space. He was instantly in front of me, Esme by his side. "We simply can't leave you," he said his voice was compassionate and caring and felt foreign to me. I started to walk away but was pulled into someone's arms and darkness took over me.


End file.
